Final Moments on the Beach
by DMM
Summary: Oneshot, Link's Awakening. It is Link's final night on Koholint Island. While preparing to awaken the Wind Fish from its slumber he is approached by Marin. The encounter only succeeds in making his decision to end the Wind Fish's dream even more difficult


_**Author Note: This story is **_**loosely **_**related to my other Zelda story; the Link in this one is the same Link from that story.**_

_**Final Moments on the Beach**_

Link took in a deep breath of the fresh ocean air, and then let it all out slowly. This was his final night on the island of Koholint. In a few minutes he would begin his journey to Mt. Tamaranch. Although the Wise Owl that had acted as his guide while on the island had never outright told him the truth, Link was able to piece together the outcome of awakening the Wind Fish: the island of Koholint would disappear and everybody living on it would disappear with it

Link forced a sad smile onto his face as he watched the gentle ocean waves flow around his boots. "I'm the only real person here," he said quietly to himself. "Everybody else is..." He heard footsteps drawing closer; he looked up and saw Marin walking towards his direction. "...Nothing more than a dream..." His gaze returned to the ocean. The reflection of the moon was perfectly visible on its surface. Link had never liked long goodbyes. He had hoped to finish his final task without having to face any of the island's inhabitants. This meeting with Marin would only make finishing it even more difficult and painful for him.

Marin now stood beside him. Link noticed that she looked very nervous about something. "Can't sleep, huh?" Link's gaze still rested on the ocean.

"No," she sighed. She looked as if she wanted to say something to him, but couldn't form the words necessary to do so. Minutes of silence passed between them before she finally spoke. "Link?"

He turned his eyes away from the ocean and looked at her.

"I'm sorry about earlier..." Link raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Earlier today when you saved me from falling. I wanted to tell you something, but Tarin came and..." Her voice, thick with nervousness, trailed off. "It was very rude of me. I'm sorry if I angered you."

"You think that offended me? Really, Marin, it's not that big of a deal. I'm not mad at you. It's pretty much impossible for me to get mad at you." He gave her a small smile and then sat down on the beach; Marin sat down beside him. "So, what was it you wanted to tell me?" He noticed that she began blushing deeply, and wouldn't make eye contact with him.

"W-well...Link, the thing is...I..I." She was so nervous that her body began shaking and it became slightly difficult for her to breathe.

"Relax, Marin. If you're that uncomfortable talking about it, you don't have to tell-" He was cut off mid-sentence as Marin suddenly hugged him tightly and kissed him on the lips. Link's eyes went wide with shock; he had not been expecting an action like that. _"Wh-what the hell just happened? Does she..."_

Marin slowly broke off the kiss and whispered, "My dad always said that...sometimes...a person's actions speak louder than words." She gently laid her head against Link's shoulder and stared out into the ocean while still hugging him tightly.

As Link began to calm down he slowly lifted his arm and wrapped it around Marin's shoulder. _"She loves me," _he thought to himself. _"A girl that is nothing but a dream. A girl that will disappear forever after I awaken the Wind Fish...has fallen in love with me."_

"Link? Can you tell me what it's like out there? About the other lands out there in the world?"

"Sure thing." He noticed her smile widen while looking at her reflection on the water. "I'll describe it to you so vividly..." He closed his eyes and began remembering all of the places he had been, especially Hyrule. "...you can almost see it."

Link had spent hours detailing his adventures before arriving at Koholint. Marin listened to him with great interest, and her fierce hug never lightened. "So, finally, I had made my way to the Stone Tower. It was an enormous building. It went so high up in the sky that I couldn't see the top of it. I must've spent over twelve hours climbing that thing. It wouldn't have been that bad if there weren't monsters constantly trying knock me off into the clouds below-"

"Do you think you could skip this part, Link? Heights scare me."

"Yeah, sure. No problem."

He continued his stories for a few more hours until he stopped. "And the next thing I know, I'm washed up on this same beach with a bleeding forehead." Link breathed in deeply as the moon began to disappear behind the horizon. _"We talked all night."_

Marin yawned quietly and looked Link straight in the eyes. "Can you make me a promise, Link?"

"What is it?"

"Promise me that someday you'll come back to this island and take me away to those other lands you told me of. I'd really love to see them." Marin smiled happily unaware of the great pain she had just inflicted.

_"This is exactly why I wanted to end this dream without meeting anybody. This is just too much for me." _Link forced a sad smile on his face, but didn't make eye contact with Marin. "Sure...One of these days." Link felt his heart shatter like glass with that lie, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt Marin by telling her the truth. That would have hurt him even more.

Marin smiled brightly and kissed Link warmly on the cheek. "Thanks, Link. I'm glad I could meet somebody like you." She laid her head against Link's chest and quickly fell asleep.

Link sighed sadly and stared up at the moon. _"I've got to end this dream as soon as possible. If I stay here any longer I might decide to stay for good. I don't belong in this world." _He quietly picked Marin up in his arms and began walking towards her home. It took him about twenty minutes to get there. The door was unlocked, and he let himself in. He entered Marin's bedroom and gently laid her down in her bed.

He leaned forward and lightly kissed her forehead. "Goodbye, Marin...Goodbye forever." He left the house quietly, and began making his journey towards Mt. Tamaranch.

Link awoke to the gentle light of the sun bathing his face. He yawned loudly and began taking in his surroundings. There was water in all directions for as far as the eye could see, and he was laying on a large wooden raft. "Wow," Link muttered. "That was one heck of a storm I was in." He lay back down on the raft and began trying to remember what had happened.

_"I remember I was sailing when I was caught in an enormous thunderstorm. After that...I woke up here." _Link's memories of his adventure on the island of Koholint had been completely erased after the awakening of the Wind Fish. The final moments he had spent with Marin on the beach were no longer part of his memories. The only thing he could remember was a single name: Koholint Island. He could remember nothing more about it though, so he simply assumed it was the name of an unimportant island he had once visited during his adventures.

He began watching the clouds pass by slowly, taking note of their shapes with little interest. One cloud in particular resembled that of a young girl, but its image became distorted as a lone seagull flew through it. Link paid it no mind. He set his raft back on the course it had been travelling, which was south. He would never remember Marin and the final moments he had spent with her. He would never remember the pretty, red-headed maiden that had fallen in love with him. He would never remember the promise he had made.


End file.
